A look at why bed bug infestations are on the rise in London
Bed bugs are one of the most stubborn pests as over the years they have become resistant to the active ingredients in pesticides meaning they are much less effective against them.
Bed bugs are also capable of travelling well, simply by walking or hitching a lift on your clothes, in your bags or lose items. Due to their colour, they can be very hard to notice, especially as they hide in dark places, small cracks and crevices where they can’t be seen.
Bed bugs have been found in all sorts of places you wouldn’t expect places you visit or use on a daily basis! This includes public transport, hotels, cinemas and even restaurants! They have even been found in second-hand furniture! In fact, the most common place they are encountered is in a hotel room.
Now take into consideration that they can lay up to 12 eggs every day, they can survive without food for several months, they can withstand temperatures as low as freezing and as high as 122 degrees Farenheit.
They can feed of humans and other animals such as your pets, so food is easily accessible where humas inhabit.
Add to that the increase in travel and the ease with which humas move between cities and countries it’s no wonder bed bug infestations are on the rise!
How can we stop bed bugs spreading?
By increasing awareness of their existence and how they survive and travel we can all do our part in stopping the spread.
Washing your clothes in a hot wash when returning from a trip can help kill bed bugs and their eggs.
Checking your hotel room before accepting the room. Check the beds for blood spots, lift up the mattress and check for dark spots on or around the bed slats. Use a torch to inspect the bed as bed bugs are more easily spotted under light.
In hotels, do not leave your clothes lying around on the floor or chairs. Do not leave your luggage under the bed as they will often crawl inside your suitcase and hitch a ride home with you!
When buying second hand furniture thoroughly check for bed bugs, don’t be afraid to ask the seller if they have had bed bugs.
How can I identify a bed bug infestation?
The signs can be easy to spot, but the early signs of an infestation are the hardest to spot.
Ideally, the earlier you can identify a bed bug infestation the better.
What to look for?
Red blood spots on your bedding – this can be where you have squashed bed bugs
Brown spots on bed sheets, mattress or bed clothes – these can be excrement
A musty odour around the bed
Shed skins or shells – these are where the larvae have hached or nymphs have shed their skin
What to do if you think you have bed bugs?
Firstly, take some photos of the areas and contact a bed bug treatment professional.
If you’d like advice, please use our contact page where you can upload photos and we can assess them for you.
Call a bed bug treatment specialist. There are many pest controllers who can treat bed bugs, however many use pesticides which as we have already discussed, bed bugs have become resistant to.
We highly recommend heat treatment for bed bugs as this is by far the most effective way of treating an infestation.
We offer a 6 month guarantee with our bed bug heat treatments, so you can be confident that the infestation will be taken care of.
How Does Heat Treatment Work?
Heat treatment works by heating the room to a certain temperature for a sustained period of time. This heat causes the bed bugs to de-hydrate and die. It also kills the nymphs and the eggs meaning the lifecycle is broken.
Unlike traditional pesticides, the heat can find its way into every crack or crevasse but can also penetrate the mattress. This means there is no areas which the bed bugs can escape from the heat.
Heat treatment is the only way of completely eradicating a bed bug infestation.
If you need a bed bug heat treatment specialist in London, please contact us for advice and a free quotation.
